


No Lifeguard

by zennie



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 02:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8604151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zennie/pseuds/zennie
Summary: Maggie never really liked the ocean.Or Maggie's thoughts on the kiss in 2x06.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So my fluff spell is over for the moment. I have about 3-5 angsty stories I'm working on. This is one of them. 
> 
> Also, I was trying out an extended metaphor. This is not my strong suit :)

Maggie never really liked the ocean. Growing up in Nebraska, she had been eight before she had even seen anything bigger than a lake, and her mother had impressed upon her the existential terror that lurked beneath those dark rolling waves: sharks, stingrays, currents, and undertows. Never, she had warned, pointing to the lifeguard stand in the distance, never go out into the water without a lifeguard present. Even hearing Alex’s stories of pre-dawn trips to surf and the beauty of sitting on a board as the first rays of dawn touched the water brought back the primordial fear that Maggie had felt the first time something wet and slippery had brushed past her leg.  
  
Alex was a risk-taker, willing to throw herself into anything, and Maggie, well, Maggie preferred her risks more calculated. Lifeguards, safety glasses, motorcycle helmets, a backup piece, these were just a few of the things that Maggie thought were sensible precautions against the unpredictability of life. But nothing prepared her for Alex, and especially Alex swinging her around and giving her a first kiss that made every other first kiss pale in comparison.  
  
Maggie’s fingers rested on her lips as Alex strode away, her shoulders already quivering, and Maggie wasn’t sure if her fingers were there to keep her from calling out to Alex or to help her relive the kiss they had just shared. Ever since she realized that Alex was coming to terms with her feelings for women, Maggie had expected Alex to make a pass at her. She had expected something awkward and sweet, a fumbled attempt to hold her hand or a misplaced peck on the cheek that lands on the corner of her lips.  
  
But not for the first time, Maggie underestimated Alex; the hand on her arm, spinning her into Alex’s embrace, had been firm and commanding, brooking no resistance. Not that Maggie had wanted to resist in those first few heady moments. She had closed her eyes as soon as she realized Alex’s intent, those long, subtle fingers framing her face and making her want to shiver. There was none of the hesitation Maggie had expected, none of the studying the angles, the thinking, the overthinking, the signalling that could have been seen from space as Alex tried to make up her mind to make a move. She had forgotten that Alex was a risk-taker, willing to dive into dark water without a thought as to what could be down there.  
  
This was decisive Alex, the one who drew the fire of an alien to let Maggie get away, the one who smoothly elbowed a guard, took his weapon and charged into a ring to save a superhero from a seven-foot alien. Maggie’s cheeks still hummed from the light caress of Alex’s thumbs and her lips still burned, and she knew she would never get over the heat and intensity and desperate need that Alex had managed to inject into such a soft, sweet kiss. Maggie hadn’t been able to stop herself from kissing Alex back, leaning in and losing herself for a brief, endless second.  
  
Drawing back from that kiss, watching Alex wait, eyes still closed, lips still searching, had been one of the hardest things Maggie had ever done. But she was already in too deep, and the waves were crashing over her head and her lungs were struggling for air. That feeling got worse as the words dragged through her throat and fell from her lips felt like glass shards. Watching them slice Alex open, watching her face grow more guarded with every syllable, watching the light slowly seep from her eyes as the pain grew...  
  
But she had been right; if they were going to have a chance in hell to have any kind of future, it couldn’t start there, in Alex’s coming-out giddiness, in Maggie’s rebound. They both had to be on solid ground and clear-headed, each knowing what they were getting into, and she wasn’t there yet. She hoped Alex would understand in time, and she hoped they got the chance to figure it out. Alex had run away, hurt, crying, but she had run away and came back before. Maggie had to trust that she would again.  
  
She stood, rooted, and resisted the urge to chase after Alex, to drown herself in the other woman, in those soft lips and endless brown eyes. But there was no lifeguard on this beach, no one to save them when they got caught in the inevitable undertow. They just had to wait and pray for low tide and calmer seas before diving in.


End file.
